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Windows 7: backup from c drive to d drive

I've got two HHDs,
Local Disk (C 135GB -- 37GB used
New Volume (D 330GB -- 1GB used -- recycle bin, open office.org 3.2(en-US), system volume, not accessible
is there any good reason not to use D as a backup disk?

If they are 2 physical drives I don't see why not. If you can, I always think it's a good idea to have another backup that's not connected to the machine(USB stick, external drive etc.) in case a virus spreads to all drives in the system.

Absolutely no reason not to begin using it as a regular backup drive, both for "system image" and "data". That's what makes a second internal or external (USB 3.0) drive so advantageous as compared to simply a second partition on the one internal hard drive which also contains C. In the case of having two or more true hard drives there is that much less probability of losing not only your C-partition but also your "backup partition" (somewhere on a secondary internal or external hard drive).

You might consider Macrium Reflect (which comes in both Free and somewhat more robust non-Free versions, so it's up to you and the price is fair) for both of these needs. It can create backup "jobs" that can be scheduled to run on a regular basis. The non-Free versions also do automatic "grooming", i.e. automatic purging of older generations of backup datasets according to your own scheme when sufficient newer versions have been created. My own feeling is that Macrium Reflect is SUPERB for "system image" backups, but not quite so spectacular for "data".

You might also consider NovaBACKUP, which also addresses both of these backup needs (i.e. image and data). But in this case it is SUPERB for "data", but not quite so spectacular for "system image". again, there is automatic "grooming" capability available to keep the number of backup dataset generations under control. This program is not free, but again is fairly priced.

Note that since my weekly Macrium Reflect "system image" backups (which I perform twice-weekly on my separate HTPC, because of copy-protection considerations on cable TV recordings) are written to my 2TB external USB 3.0 drive and are my recovery approach if I ever did lose Windows integrity in a fatal way (which could not be resolved by a simple "system restore" from a recent restore point) such that I would have otherwise possibly considered a complete reinstall as my only last recourse, I retain 6 generations of "system image" backups of C and "system reserved" partitions, mostly for my own comfort level. But in actuality I have virtualy never actually needed to revert to restoring "the most recent system image" to C in order to recover from some major system problem. My systems are simply very stable.

On the "data backup" side, I use NovaBACKUP again writing backup datasets to my 2TB external USB 3.0 drive. I retain 3-4 months of "complete" sets (i.e. FULL plus all following INCREMENTAL datasets, until the next FULL starts the cycle again) which thus provide 90-120 days of complete "daily recovery" capability. In other words I could recover any folder/file that existed anywhere on my four hard drives on any day over the past 90-120 days, as long as it existed at the time the monthly or nightly backup took place so that it got copied onto one of those backups in the 90-120 day period. Each new 1st-of-month FULL backup process "grooms" the oldest month off, so that I'm back to 90-days capability on that 1st of the month. As the month goes on the system works its way up to the eventual 120-days capability on the 30th of the month.

I also keep three older FULL backups, thus giving me further recovery capability going back up to 6 months, but only for folders/files which existed on those 1st-of-the-month FULL backups from 4, 5, and 6 months ago.

In actuality, I have almost never needed to recover anything other than something fairly recent that I accidentally or unintentionally deleted, and now have changed my mind and want it back. But having the recovery capability I have designed through my automatic scheduled backups gives me peace of mind.

Note that my "system image" backup approach for C means I DO NOT NEED TO BACKUP C:\Windows in my monthly/daily "data" backups. This saves LOTS of backup job time and backup dataset space.

Anyway, that's just my own personal backup scheme, for both "system image" and "data" backups. The key here is that you use SECONDARY MEDIA (either second internal/external hard drives, or maybe a TAPE drive although that is slower) for your backups. You do NOT want your backup partition to be on the same hard drive as the partition whose contents you are backing up. You don't want to risk losing your drive (or partition) through a hardware failure requiring the host drive's replacement, and simultaneously also losing your backup of the critical partition or data on that partition. All backups should absolutely be written to a SEPARATE HARD DRIVE/PARTITION OR SECONDARY MEDIA LIKE TAPE.

So, if you now have a second hard drive, it's the right time to invent and implement your own regular automated backup regimen, using some VERY HIGHLY RATED program products.

And one final comment... having "data" backups available makes reinstall of Windows, if necessary, very very easy. You're no long concerned with "losing any data", as all of your "data" is backed up essentially on a daily basis, no matter whether that data is also external on D (or elsewhere), or on C (in C:\Users or C:\ProgramData or C:\Program Files, etc.). It's all automatically available for recovery onto newly-installed C if necessary, or simply never lost during a reinstall because it's external location is on D or elsewhere.

DSPERBER, many thanks for that comprehensive reply, the part I'm most interested in is the ability to reinstall the O/S. I'm reasonably competent but have always had some doubt about my CD & USB drive backups, cheers from down-under

DSPERBER, if you've got a minute to spare
I finally got round to copying my C:\ drive to D:\ - just to reassure myself would you comment on my actions please?
I clicked "image this disc" a few minutes later task completed, D:\ now has a folder "A7FBC3EA3FC1426C-00-00.mrimg" but there's a new drive F is this a new partition of D? There's only 2 entries on it (a log & and ini) and they're measured in bits (54 & 500 about)
If so far so good? then I scheduled a backup for each month, should be enough, this is a domestic system. There's choice, Full - incremental - differential I chose Full - and hopefully that's that - seem okay to you"

DSPERBER, if you've got a minute to spare
I finally got round to copying my C:\ drive to D:\ - just to reassure myself would you comment on my actions please?
I clicked "image this disc" a few minutes later task completed, D:\ now has a folder "A7FBC3EA3FC1426C-00-00.mrimg" but there's a new drive F is this a new partition of D? There's only 2 entries on it (a log & and ini) and they're measured in bits (54 & 500 about)
If so far so good? then I scheduled a backup for each month, should be enough, this is a domestic system. There's choice, Full - incremental - differential I chose Full - and hopefully that's that - seem okay to you"

Please post a screenshot (full-screen) of the output from DISKMGMT.MSC.

Be sure to spread the "status" column (and any other columns which need it) so that all text information in it is visible.

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